Bellarmine scores 71-59 victory over Tusculum

12/22/2009 12:19:42 AM

By: by John Spugnardi, Sports Information Director

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Bellarmine University got career performances from Jeremy Kendle and Luke Sprague as the Knights turned back the Pioneers of Tusculum College 71-59 tonight in Knights Hall in a matchup of NCAA Division II schools.

Kendle led the Knights in scoring for the second straight game, collecting a career high 25 points against the Pioneers. Sprague also came up big for Bellarmine. Starting in place of an injured Nick Holmes, the sophomore from Newburgh, Ind., also registered a career high with 15 points and pulled down a team high six rebounds.

The game was strongly contested throughout, but a 10-0 run by Bellarmine to close out the first half gave the Knights a 33-22 halftime cushion, and the home team was able to maintain a double digit lead for the remainder of the game.

Bellarmine again relied on a strong defensive performance to help generate offense. The Knights forced 18 Tusculum turnovers and coverted those into 20 points, which helped offset a 34-26 rebounding advantage for the Pioneers.

"I don't care what level talking about, that was a great basketball game tonight," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. "That was as well as a coached team as there is in Division II basketball, and they returned four of five starters -- including the conference MVP -- from a team that went to the NCAA last year, so that was a very good win for us," he said.

With the win, Bellarmine improves to 7-4, while the Pioneers slip to 5-6.

Coach Davenport used the Saturday-Monday homestand against Cumberlands and Tusculum as a warmup for the upcoming Great Lakes Valley Conference season, in which the Knights will play two games in three days for the remainder of the regular season.

"One of the keys to the game for us tonight was 62," Davenport said. "I put that (number) on the board in the locker room. That's number of days we have left--33 practice days, 17 games and 12 days off. I told the guys that if they want their dreams to come true, now is the time they have to come into focus."

The Knights return to action on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 3:15 p.m. as they entertain Wisconsin-Parkside in their GLVC home opener.

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